- May 15, 2007
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Like Dangerous_Clive and myself have said, it would be achievable. And still growing? At 21 and at 6' 3" I'd say he's stopped growing. This is my age and height too and I sure as hell hope that I have stopped!!!!
Daily Mail says he's off back to Derby for £4 million. Tidy profit there for two years.
This is what a couple of Blackburn supporters who have visited have said they'd like.
For me it's not the lack of pace that's important, it's the lack of mobility/agility. He really does seem to have the turning circle of a small oil tanker. He is never in a million years going to have King's (or Gardner's) pace, but maybe some specialist coaching could make him a bit nimbler. And a lot, as has been said before, is down to experience, his learning to read the game to compensate for his lack of quickness on his feet. We had some ITK last season suggesting that Jol thought it would be another two years before we started to see the best of him, and whilst you can only set so much store by ITKs that's something I can well believe.
I'm not sure Ramos and Comolli will be offloading any midfielders before the summer, because we are likely to have to make do with what we've got until then unless we get a job lot like 'arry did from us two years ago.
You can be broad as well as mobile, Jason Robinson is broad and very mobile, Lomu as well to use another example. Huddlestone is a big lad, naturally, his size is not because he is fat and it's not why he isn't mobile either. It may just be that he isn't as fit as he should or perhaps could be and that's why he's getting a game in the ressies. Or it could simply be that he doesn't fit the Ramos bill. Whatever the reason it's not because he's too fat or muscular.
Hud is technically a fantastic player.
He just has the turning circle of a tank.
For me it's not the lack of pace that's important, it's the lack of mobility/agility. He really does seem to have the turning circle of a small oil tanker. He is never in a million years going to have King's (or Gardner's) pace, but maybe some specialist coaching could make him a bit nimbler. And a lot, as has been said before, is down to experience, his learning to read the game to compensate for his lack of quickness on his feet. We had some ITK last season suggesting that Jol thought it would be another two years before we started to see the best of him, and whilst you can only set so much store by ITKs that's something I can well believe.
I agree. So why don't we do something truly radical and LOAN him to Derby or Reading for a season or two? This is what the top Italian and Spanish clubs often do with their good young players. They send them out to get top-flight experience and then as soon as they think they're ready, they bring them back.
Arteta is a great example. Barca had Guardiola in the first team, Xavi breaking thru, and Iniesta in the youth team. They sent Arteta out on season-long loans to PSG and Rangers, and if he'd made fast enough progress, they'd have stuck him in. But at least he was still a Barca player, and they could make the judgement at 21 rather than 19.
So, if Ramos doesn't think the Hud is good enough now, send him out on loan to a top club. (And if there are regulations preventing it being a Premiership club, send him to Scotland or France.) SELLING the Hud now would be much stupider than loaning him out and making a final decision in a season or two.
the equivelent of league 1
Lomu is mobile going in one direction, so is Huddlestone. If you kicked the ball past Lomu it would take him a day to turn around, just like Huddlestone.
He can lose all the weight in the world, it's not going to make him fast. He lacks pace and agility but being fat or not won't make a difference to that.
True enough, though there are plenty of rugby players of large build who are mobile. That was my point really, that his muscularity isn't a cause of his immobility, it just compounds it.
I still think Jol's fitness training wasn't up to players like hudd, robbo and mido that need more than a morning session to stay in shape. Hudd has too many positives to give up now, for me and I'd be disappointed if we sold him. If he still wasn't delivering in three years, fine. But there's still a good chance he'll turn into a fantastic midfielder.